45

Chapter 45

Charlus felt a certain savagery course through him as the paper in his hand began to combust with his magic raging for release. Sitting in the drawing room of Godric's Hollow with his family usually would've left him quite at ease, but as his eyes darted across the page he just became more ferocious. Multiple attacks throughout the Wizarding World. The Leaky Cauldron had experienced a brief attack leaving one dead and half a dozen injured. Two separate attacks in small wizarding village pubs had also been attacked with at least one being killed, but the image that turned his gut was much more graphic. Destruction on the center of the front page of the Evening Prophet depicted fallen witches and wizards and mass panic on platform 9 3/4s. Five were killed and dozens injured in the cowardly attack according to the Prophet.

Dorea was sitting across from Charlus looking worried, and the man merely dropped the burning paper looking down at the table in defeat, "We should've been there."

Frowning, the woman summoned the paper to her hands while simultaneously putting the fire out. Her hand immediately went to cover her mouth as she gasped at the picture. Monty and Mia Potter were quick to get to their feet and stand beside the woman to get a glimpse of the paper, but none had words that felt appropriate for the situation. Dorea had no care to read the article behind the headline as she finished surveying the front page, "Do you think Harry, Elaina, or James were hurt?"

Grunting, the man shook his head, "Harry would've contacted us. These cheap tactics didn't stand a chance against our charges either. This hit-and-run strategy is disgraceful. This bastard didn't even have the spine to show up himself."

Monty sighed, "Dumbledore was there. I don't think the man fancies his chances with the man with the Aurors at his back."

"It was the whole reason we did not insist on going to the platform with James." Mia said bowing her head, "We had spoken with Alastor last night. The amount of protection on the platform was unheard of. Yet they managed to accomplish devastation with a few spells."

"Not even Grindelwald was this level of cowardly." Charlus spat, "He at least warned people to clear out of what would be active battlefields. This bastard is just having his followers kill to instill fear."

"It's going to work too I am afraid." Dorea murmured.

"When you say my name, speak it with fear." Charlus parroted, "All these attacks over the last few weeks. They were all building up to this. They are going to terrify the people into submission."

"Harry warned us this would happen." Mia said softly, "I knew it was going to be bad, but it's been nearly non-stop."

"There has been some sort of attack every day since the New Year." Monty confirmed his voice carrying through the long silence, "What do we do?"

Charlus began pacing as he rubbed his face with his hand. Harry had given them so much info, but not enough. He didn't know enough specifics about the First Blood War to effectively combat the man. No where would be safe at the rate things were going, "We need to get your family moved back into Potter Manor. Until this is over."

The family was silent and the only thing that could be heard in the room was the clock on the wall. Dorea cracked the silence with a whisper, "We are stronger together. Look what happened to my brother behind some of the strongest wards in the world."

Swallowing hard, Monty said, "I don't think James or Sirius would protest to the extra space."

"If James wants to prepare to try out for a professional Quidditch Team he will be better suited to train on the grounds of Potter Manor." Mia added quietly.

"It would take a small army to breach the wards at Potter Manor." Charlus said feeling encouraged by their lack of resistance, "By the time they broke through Harry and Elaina would be there to fight with us. Melania has been staying with us as well while Arcturus heals. We could have some very capable fighters to defend our home if it became necessary."

"A member of the Potter Family has occupied Godric's Hollow for generations." Monty whispered.

"And we will return." Charlus said with confidence.

Mia put a hand on her husband's arm, "If Harry is to be believed, and we don't do this there may be no Potter's left at all."

Her words seemed to give the oldest Potter some resolve as he nodded resolutely, "You are right my dear. We can place more sensory charms around the village too. If there is trouble we can all come assist together."

Charlus nodded in agreement, "We have to make moves we usually wouldn't. Otherwise we are doomed to leave Harry in the same situation he was in during his time."

Shaking his head the older man said, "That cannot be allowed to happen."

Mia merely dipped her head in acknowledgment of her husband's words, while Charlus and Dorea exchanged stressed looks. The daughter of the Black family sighed, "I will write to our boy and ensure everyone was uninjured. I will also let him know of the family's plans."

The others all seemed to accept the woman's words as Charlus spoke again, "We will leave you both to pack. Let us know if there is anything we can do to help."

There was no exchange of goodbyes as Charlus and Dorea rose to their feet and made their way out of the house and into the village. The cool January sun was setting over the horizon and Dorea looped an arm through her husband still feeling his palpable unease.

As they stepped into the street Dorea attempted to calm her husband, "We won't let what happened to Harry happen again. We will help our boy beat this monster."

"He doesn't think he is doing enough." Charlus uttered, "I saw it on his face everyday since the New Year. He is cursed with the knowledge of the future, yet he has not managed much to prevent the coming conflict."

"Did he say something to you?" The woman questioned.

"No." The man answered, "I just remember seeing that look in the mirror everyday when we were on the continent. There were times I nearly became desperate, and concocted suicidal plans to win. Thankfully you and Arcturus were there to talk me out of most of those foolhardy ideas."

"Harry has Elaina." Dorea comforted, "She will keep him on the straight and narrow."

"The boy keeps more secrets than I ever did though. I fear he will act alone since that is what he is used to."

Dorea paused at this looking at her husband with alarm on her face, "What do we do?"

Taking the last look at the sun as it went behind the hills Charlus whispered, "I don't know."

.o.

They will have to kill me. The words haunted Harry's sleep that night in the Slytherin Common Room. The school had been very subdued during the welcome back feast, and Harry didn't trust himself to hang around the Purebloods in his house because he was likely to curse the first one that openly endorsed Voldemort.

Harry wasn't sure what to expect from James anymore. A part of him believed that James was feeling the heat of the moment on the train, but another part of him knew that it was seemingly inevitable that the Marauder would grow into the man he hoped he would become, but another part of him believed it would not be that easy.

It was sometime in the middle of the restless night that the lightest tap of his door was heard. Considering only one person had been keyed into his wards he knew it could only be Elaina. Throwing the blankets off of him he summoned a shirt to his hand as he opened the door sliding his shirt over his head.

The girl held a finger to her mouth indicating him to be quiet as she stepped inside his room and closed the door behind her. Looking her up and down Harry realized the girl was dressed for training already and he raised his eyes at her, "Everything alright?"

"We never had the chance to talk about what was bothering you." She said evenly as she conjured a black chair near his desk and took a seat crossing her arms over the back of it and facing him.

Harry sighed, "You woke me up in the middle of the night to have this conversation? We could've had it on the grounds after training."

"You weren't asleep." She said as if she knew he had been stirring in his bed all night, "Besides the forest has ears. With your paselmagic I doubt even Dumbledore could hear our conversation in here."

Not questioning how she knew he was awake he sighed taking a seat on the edge of the bed facing her with thoughts swirling through his mind as to how he would go about this conversation. The future bomb was not one he was ready to drop, yet without it he was not sure how he would explain his knowledge of the Horcruxes.

"I know things." Harry said in an uncertain voice as if he was testing them out, "Things that no one else knows about Voldemort."

Elaina frowned at his words, but finally nodded, "You have known for a while that this man would be your enemy. It makes sense that you would study him."

She seemed to think on his words as the young man shook his head before saying, "Well how do you know these things?"

"I can't tell you…" The irritation flashed across her face and he immediately added, "Yet. This secret is very dangerous. More dangerous than anything I have told you so far."

Taking a breath she closed her eyes before nodding, "Okay, I get it. What can you tell me?"

Swallowing hard, Harry let out a deep breath before saying, "Voldemort is invincible right now. He took steps to achieve a form of immortality. The darkest of magic known to our kind. I can't even tell you the type of magic in fear of what it would mean to say it out loud."

Elaina's eyes widened at his declaration, "You mean to say we could hit him with a killing curse and…"

"He would be gone, but not forever." Harry finished.

"Merlin." The girl said leaning to where her back was now up against the desk, "Okay, so what do we do?"

"There are these objects, " Harry began explaining, "That we need to destroy before we can put an end to the man."

Elaina stood to her feet and began pacing. A million questions clearly formed in her mind, but the first few seemed to finally make it past her lips, "What are they? How many are there?"

"I'm not sure." Harry said honestly. Harry had no idea what year Voldemort made certain items a Horcrux. He felt relatively certain that at least three had been created thus far, but he couldn't know for sure, "They can't just be anything though. In a way they became a part of Voldemort when he began delving down this path, so I don't think they will be everyday objects. Voldemort is too arrogant for that. I do believe however that one of these items is in the castle."

Elaina stopped, eyes wide turning to look at the calm teen, "You can't be serious."

"Voldemort was a student here. A long time ago. He was an orphan like me. To us this was our first home. It holds significance to him." Harry declared, trying to remain as clear as possible.

"That could still be a stretch." Elaina said her eyebrows scrunched together with a frown and it's seemingly deep end when Harry shrugged, "Well if there is one we should find it and destroy it. Do you at least have an idea of how many there could be?"

"I believe he would go for one of the most powerful numbers in arithmancy which would be 3, 7, or 13. For reasons I can't yet explain, I am confident the end goal is seven, but I believe he is still on the path to creating that many." Harry expounded as he rose to his own feet walking towards the window that looked into the depths of the Black Lake, "As to destroying the items that is what has been troubling me. There are very few things capable of destroying the objects I have been talking about. The darkest of magic can only be destroyed by the most destructive of curses or magic."

"Example." The girl demanded clearly running out of patience for his cryptic talk.

"Fiendfyre would be one way." Harry noted.

Frowning, the girl shook her head, "I've heard of it."

"I've seen it twice." The tired teen explained, "One of the times was by Voldemort, and the other was someone our age who killed themselves using the spell. It is beyond difficult to control. It is likely we could both learn to do it, but there is a lot of risk. I wouldn't want to use it unless we were beyond desperate."

In understanding Elaina sighed, "Okay, what else?"

"Basilisk venom." Harry uttered quietly.

Snorting, Elaina retorted, "Okay our only hope of gathering any of that has likely been halted until Arcturus comes around. I doubt many in the world have the connections to find something like that."

The serious look on his face made her pause however and she stuttered, "Unless you know where to find some?"

"What do you know of the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry questioned.

Eyes widening, the girl took a seat on the bed now looking puzzled by the question, before scoffing, "I've heard rumors that Salzaar Slytherin created a chamber. It's something the prefects tell all the firsties to scare them. The story always ends with the fallacy that it is home to a monster of some sort."

"The stories are true." Harry said in just above a whisper as if he feared someone would overhear them, "Slytherin created a chamber below the school to purge people he believed were undeserving of magic."

"Muggleborns." Elaina breathed out softly.

In agreement, Harry confirmed her statement by meeting her eyes. She then quizzed, "How could you know this? Did you discover something in one of your family's grimoires?"

Shaking his head he returned, "I will tell you, just not now. I asked you to trust me."

Her face had ranged from irritation to disappointment through his two statements before exhaling, "Okay. So the Chamber of Secrets is real. Salazar Slytherin created a monster to purge muggleborns from the school. Do you mean to tell me that the monster is a basilisk?"

"It is." Harry confirmed.

Flopping back down on the bed the girl broke eye contact with him and stared at the ceiling, "Okay. This is all well and good, but even knowing all this we would need to find the entrance and then kill a class five magical creature."

"You're already dressed for training, let's go have a live fire exercise." Harry said, offering his hand to her with a slight grin now crossing his features.

The girl sat up so fast that she clearly became briefly discombobulated, "Wait, what? You know where the entrance to a Chamber that people have spent the last thousand years searching for is?"

Nodding as the grin faded from his countenance and a grave look returned, "I do. I also think I may know a way to defeat Slytherin's monster, gain us a powerful weapon against Voldemort, and begin the path of truly defeating that madman."

"This is what has been on your mind? This is what has been bothering you?" Elaina questioned standing to her feet and taking his hand in her own.

In confirmation he tipped his head slightly, "I have known all this information since I arrived at Hogwarts. I was just uncertain of what to do with it. I had hoped I would have more time, but he isn't resting. People are dying, and I have to do something."

"We have to do something." She corrected instantly.

"My plan…" Harry said after a pause, "It may not work. I have only read stories that a rooster cry could be fatal to a basilisk. If it's not, we could be in the fight of our lives."

"Then let's plan." Elaina answered, "One week. We research all we can, and in one week we enter the chamber, kill Slytherin's Monster, and search for this item that makes the Heir of Slytherin immortal."

"You make it all sound so easy." Harry said with a fond smile lifting the corners of his mouth.

"We will make it that easy. Together. I told you earlier, one day, I want no secrets. For now I will trust you." Elaina retorted, bringing his hand to cup her face.

Leaning towards the girl who was looking up at him with her beautiful heterochromia eyes he mumbled, "I promise."

.o.

The Dark Lord laid back in content as he bit into a fine meal prepared by the Malfoy house elves. After the death of Rudolphus, Lord Lestrange had been poor company, as he rambled about his thirst for vengeance, and the Heir of Slytherin had sought alternative arrangements.

Things had been going well for his followers despite receiving more resistance to his rise than he expected. He could admit that he had suspected Bellatrix would be more than capable of killing Lord Black with the help of her father and uncle, who were talented wizards in their own rights, but still, the damage they had done to the borough of Islington will have cemented him in history.

The death toll his followers had accumulated under his symbol would make him one of the most feared Wizards of the last century and he was just getting started. He would have a way to go before his name was associated with the likes of Grindelwald, but he knew with time he would become more feared than the once great dark wizard.

If only he had been given more of an opportunity to put the Potters in their place. There was no doubt that Charlus Potter was a warrior, and an immensely talented wizard. Had there been the slightest hope of recruiting the man, Voldemort never would have crossed wands with him, but he knew that such a thing was impossible. Some wizards would just refuse to bow down due to their false sense of superiority. Lord Voldemort would enjoy teaching the man some humility.

Then there was the mystery boy, a Parselmouth, and a seer. What amazing magical gifts one so young held, and the Dark Lord wished there was a way to get to the boy. Already he had begun looking into what kind of state he could leave the boy in while still having use for his abilities. He had after all seen his victory through the boy's eyes. Death and destruction on a scale he only dreamt of would follow. His people had conquered the Ministry by the looks of the vision, and his followers were in open conquest across the country. It was a vision he wished he could enjoy again. Had Charlus Potter not interfered he could only imagine just what else he might have seen from the boy.

"How was the meal, my lord?" The voice of Abraxus Malfoy asked silkily.

Lifting his glass of wine to the blonde hair man slightly he bowed his head in acknowledgment, "Delicious as always, Lord Malfoy. Your house-elves are second to none."

The man beamed at the compliment and Lucius, a very promising recruit to his inner circle, asked, "My lord, with Lord Black having survived his encounter with Widow Lestrange, what will be done next?"

The dark lord swirled the glass of wine in his hand contemplating his answer to the long haired youth. It was something he had put a lot of thought into and after sipping at his glass he spoke with assurance, "With the strength of the family having gone down, likely to never return, I suspect something of a power vacuum in the family will occur. The next two in line to the title were involved in the assaination attempt, and there are a few Black's that may rise up to the position. I imagine whoever does will be easily replaced, or more hopefully shown to our way of thinking. While I am disappointed our clandestine operation was not as fruitful as I hoped, that does not necessarily mean no fruit was created at all. You understand?"

Lucius nodded his head thoughtfully and the man to his left, a dark-haired individual with a long, pale, twisted face grunted in a Russian accent, "What about the Potters? They are proving to be more of a nuisance the longer they live. Even back home Charlus and Dorea are well respected, and their son is shaping up to be formidable."

"You sound like you respect the blood-traitors!" A nearby man jeered.

The pale-faced man scoffed, "Only a fool would not. Anyone who can stand toe to toe with our master and live to tell the tale is gifted."

Voldemort held his hands up for silence and he addressed the dark harried man, "Antonin is right. The Potters' gifts are to be respected. Already they account for the deaths of some of my followers."

Rising to his feet he slowly stalked towards his outspoken follower, "Rowle, perhaps you would like to be the one to bring me the head of the enemy that has publicly sworn to oppose us? You would be greatly honored."

The man paled instantly, "My-my-my Lord?"

"Just because our enemies are below us does not mean we should respect a wizard of excellent caliber. Even his wife I doubt many of you would be capable of crossing." Voldemort said dismissively.

"Given the opportunity I would like the chance to avenge my family, my lord. Dorea Potter killed members of my family during the Great War. It would be an honor to exact revenge." A younger man said from the end of the table.

Voldemort offered one of his youngest recruits at the table a smile, "Ah, now here is a man with some bravery. Evan you are undoubtedly quite gifted, but the Potters are very well battle tested. I fear any encounter with the Mrs would undoubtedly lead to one with her husband. A man that I believe is beyond all of my followers, a force against myself, but a light I will snuff out personally when the time is right."

"What if we could find a way to separate them?" Evan asked carefully.

"You have a plan of sorts?" The Dark Lord questioned curiously.

"It relates to the plans I drew up for you, my lord." The youngest recruit at the table confessed.

Voldemort put a hand on his face and rubbed it down his neck thoughtfully as his other followers whispered in wonder. The Heir of Slytherin knew they were questioning why he would allow his youngest follower to help him plan an attack, but Evan Rosier was valuable. A gifted wizard in his own right, but being fresh out of the castle he had a memory and knowledge of the ins and outs that many of the others would have forgotten, "We will speak more of this. Any chance we could have at breaking the will of our most powerful enemies is one we should take. For now, I would like to discuss other topics."

Evan bowed his head in acknowledgment, looking pleased that he wasn't immediately dismissed as Voldemort strode back to his seat at the head of the table. Looking down the table many of his most promising followers had gathered for a meal with him in celebration. Four days and dozens of successful attacks were carried out. It was hard to stop while they were on the high of victory, but a tactical withdrawal to prepare a more massive attack needed to follow. An attack that would bring the nation to its knees.

"I have several plans I would like to pursue. The experiment that our new friend, Augustus brought to us, is shaping up nicely. A feat of magic the world has never before seen. We will teach them to fear us, and the very sound of my name will one day bring us straight to their doorsteps. Only then will the people of Britain bow their heads in fear." The man proclaimed as his followers raised their glasses into the air with cheers and laughs filling the room.

As the group settled Voldemort gave them a sinister smile, "For now we will slow our assault. Let them live in fear, wondering who will be next. Let them live in fear wondering where the mark will hang next. One by one the light of our enemies will perish and in the end, only those of the purest blood will stand above the rest!"

The gathered rose to their feet banging their hands on the table in support of his words and the Dark Lord took a seat once again. If there was one thing he had a talent for it was putting his followers into a frenzy. More plans would follow, but for now, he would train his followers, and perhaps take the insight of the youngest recruit at the table.